September 2018___________________________________________________________

THE TROUBLE WITH PATIENT AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT“The trouble with patient and public involvement (PPI)” – keynote at Cochrane Colloquium 2018Transcript of her talk delivered at the 2018 Cochrane Colloquium, Edinburgh, September 18 2018.

Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector of General Practice for the Care Quality Commission, is set to step down from his post in March .

Professor Field has been Chief Inspector for the sector since October 2013 and leads on regulation of all primary care providers, including GP and dental services. He had been due to stand down in October, but was asked to stay on until March 2019.

Professor Field is currently leading on the CQC’s Local System Reviews Contract which were recently extended to cover three new areas. The three new areas the Regulator is set to look at by December are; Staffordshire, Leeds and Reading. As part of the contract extension, the CQC will also review progress made in three areas it has already covered; Stoke-on-Trent, York and Oxfordshire.

A sometimes controversial figure amongst GPs, Professor Field’s was, until last year, a practising Doctor at Bellevue Medical Centre, part of Modality Partnership – one of the largest GP providers in England. He was also previously Deputy Medical Director for NHS England, and Chair of the Royal College of GPs. Source Date: 21 September 2018

Note from Ruth --- and he was Chair of the ‘NHS Future Forum’ in 2011, which many of us from LINks were involved in, and he then said,” Patients want to have real choice and control over their care that extends well beyond just choice of provider. Building on the NHS Constitution, the Secretary of State should, following full public consultation, give a ‘choice mandate’ to the NHS Commissioning Board setting out the parameters for choice and competition in all parts of the service. A Citizens Panel, as part of Healthwatch England, should report to Parliament on how well the mandate has been implemented and further work should be done to give citizens a new ‘Right to Challenge’ poor quality services and lack of choice.”

MID STAFFS INQUIRY LEAD TO CHAIR HEALTHWATCH ENGLAND

The Leader of the Mid Staffordshire Public Inquiry has been appointed Chair of Healthwatch England.

In a statement released today, Healthwatch England announced Sir Robert Francis QC, who Chaired the Mid Staffordshire Public Inquiry into systemic failings of care at the Trust between 2005 and 2009, will take up the post from 01 October.

Sir Robert, who is a Non-Executive Director at the Care Quality Commission and President of the Patients Association, replaces Jane Mordue, who has been at Healthwatch England since December 2015.

He said that with the health and care sector under “significant pressure”, leaders need a “strong and independent” Healthwatch to help them hear what people are saying.

He added: “I have always been very clear in my work to date that those who run, commission and regulate services make the best decisions when they listen to and learn from the experiences of those they care for.

“With the health and care sector under significant pressure, they do need a strong and independent Healthwatch to help them hear what people are saying.

“I am very excited about this opportunity to amplify the voices of people who use the health and care system and to turn it into insight that will make a genuine difference where it matters most.”​Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, welcomed the appointment and said: “As Chair of Healthwatch, I am confident he will ensure the views of patients sit right at the very heart of decision-making in the NHS.” Source: Healthwatch England statement

PARLIAMENTARY ENQUIRY, SOCIAL CARE FUNDINGA Parliamentary inquiry is underway to address the funding challenges faced by the social care system in England.The committee is seeking to assess the effectiveness of different funding models, the shortfalls in delivery and to make recommendations on how future social care demands can be met in England.

This model constitution has been prepared on behalf of NHS England by thiNKnow LTD with the support of Browne Jacobson LLP

ELIGIBILITY FOR FREE PRESCRIPTIONSNHS England and the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) are launching a nationwide campaign today (10 September) to help people understand their eligibility for free prescriptions.

The ‘Check Before You Tick’ campaign will encourage patients to check whether they are entitled to free prescriptions before claiming them, to help reduce the £256 million cost per year to the NHS when people incorrectly claim them for free.

Patients will be able to access a new online tool to help everyone to understand the Government’s eligibility criteria for free prescriptions, while Pharmacists will be provided with a communications toolkit, posters, and point of sale materials to display in their Pharmacy to explain the rules.

Government response to the recommendations of the Health and Social Care Committee’s inquiry into ‘Integrated care: organisations, partnerships and systems’

Seventh Report of session 2017-19

Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

NHS CHOICES - NAME CHANGE

The NHS Choices name is to go, as part of changes to the UK’s largest health website by NHS England and NHS Digital.These include more accessible content, better mobile device experience, new content for helping people to manage long-terms conditions, and improved page design.

The NHS Choices logo will disappear, but the web address remains the same, www.nhs.uk.

​Organisations are asked to replace existing references to NHS Choices to “the NHS website” when possible.There is also guidance to help NHS organisations refer correctly to the NHS website.